Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Minister, and your staff for being here today.
Minister, you alluded in your presentation to the topic of Lyme disease briefly. Of course, after almost six months, this committee did finally just yesterday get your letter, your response on the Lyme disease investigation that we did here in committee. The response from you, Minister, is certainly not going very well in the Lyme community and I'm not surprised.
There are hundreds if not thousands, as you know, Minister, of Canadians suffering daily from Lyme disease. We know that there are likely many more that have been misdiagnosed or are not getting the treatments that they need. There have been conferences. We studied it here in committee. There have been experts who provided their opinions and recommendations, and we've had public consultations as well. Enough talking has happened and now it seems that no action is really taking place. Without proper funding, nothing is going to happen.
The government of course, as you know, has set aside $4 million. Let me put that into perspective. We spent more on a hockey rink out on Parliament Hill than we are now spending on this major public health issue. Why do you, Minister, believe that proper Lyme disease research can be done for less than the cost of putting up a patch of ice on Parliament Hill?